Penguins out of their element in physical Game 1 loss to Flyers

PITTSBURGH -- Evgeni Malkin knows the Pittsburgh Penguins, in and out.

The 39-year-old forward understands what they are and, maybe more importantly, what they’re not.

On Saturday, Malkin didn't recognize the Penguins in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at PPG Paints Arena.

"It's what we talked about, you know? We should play our game,” Malkin said. “We start fighting. This is what they want, you know? We know it's a tight, physical game, but we need to play better.”

The Penguins, at home, often seemed rattled. They were limited to five shots on goal in each of the first two periods.

The Flyers, on the road, were in their element -- scrums after nearly every whistle, 81 combined hits (Pittsburgh, 41; Philadelphia, 40), 18 penalty minutes (Pittsburgh 10; Philadelphia eight).

“We know it's Philly, we know it's the playoffs, we know it's coming,” Malkin said. “I like to play physical, I like to play a hard game. But just after a whistle, we need to just, like, go away and play smart. ... Everybody should be a little bit smarter. That's it."

Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby went to the box twice. He was called for roughing Jamie Drysdale at 11:16 of the first period and for slashing Travis Sanheim at 18:51 of the third.

"That's going to be part of a series,” Crosby said. “I think we've got to stay out of it a little bit more and trust that when they do it and try to start it up, that they're going to get penalized for it. But that's more something I think they're looking to do. We've got to stay out of it and trust they'll be undisciplined."

Instead, the Penguins were out of sorts. Goalie Stuart Skinner tried to help them breathe.

Christian Dvorak seemed to score at 8:19 of the first period, but had a goal waved off immediately after crashing into Skinner. Owen Tippett was denied by Skinner’s pad on a breakaway at 8:20 of the second.

It was never going to last, though. Drysdale solved Skinner at 9:19 to put the Flyers in front 1-0.

“We need to help him, for sure,” Malkin said. “Again, we give them so many chances. He played really good. But it's a tough loss. The crowd, it's amazing tonight. But it's not over. We need to understand how the playoffs are important, every game is important. Physical game. We just need to be ready and play our game.”

Malkin did his part. He scored a tying goal, his first in the playoffs since May 13, 2022, at 15:51 of the second and had an assist on Bryan Rust's goal that cut the deficit to 3-2 at 18:59 of the third after Sanheim and Porter Martone scored for the Flyers earlier in the period.

But Saturday was still difficult. It was the Penguins’ return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing the past three seasons. Maybe that was part of the problem.

"I mean, we played good all year long,” Malkin said. “We know how we play and we just, like, maybe nervous too much or we want (it) too much. We just not thinking a little bit, I think. Everybody wants to play good. I understand. But again, we have a couple bad turnovers."

But, as Malkin said, it's not over. Game 2 will be here on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, NBCSP, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360). With it comes a chance for the Penguins to find themselves.

“Again, it's just the first game," Malkin said. "We understand, we not play (in) three years. Everybody, like, a little bit nervous, but we have a chance, for sure. We need to just play simple and a little bit better."